2005 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

Etienne de Montille was not the only winemaker I visited in November to describe a difference in structure between the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits in 2006. He opted for a soft extraction, as he was not completely confident about the quality of the raw material and preferred to make fruity, appealing, light-bodied wines rather than ones that might be astringent, bitter or unclean. He began harvesting on the Cote de Beaune on the day of the ban, with potential alcohols in the high 13.2% to 13.8% range, eliminating up to 15% of rotten grapes in the vines and on the sorting table. (Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; Veritas, Beverly Hills, CA)

With its share of the Domaine Thomas-Moillard purchase, Domaine de Montille has vastly expanded its portfolio of offerings and planted a flag on the Cote de Nuits. It now owns some Clos Vougeot and a major parcel of Vosne-Romanee Malconsorts, including a small enclave within what appears to be La Tache on the vineyard map of Burgundy but which was never actually classified as La Tache. Etienne de Montille, who destemmed much of his fruit in 2004 due to hail, vinified most of his wines in 2005 with whole clusters. "I started here in 1983 and it's the most perfect fruit I've ever seen," he told me in November. "If you couldn't vinify with stems this year, then when?" While long-time admirers of this domain may need to acclimate themselves to wines made via vendange entier, the results speak for themselves, and this vintage is likely to be long-lived. Two thousand four is markedly different. "This vintage is atypical of Montille," said Etienne. "They're wines that will be pleasurable to drink early, so take advantage of that." (Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; Veritas, Beverly Hills, CA)